


Killer Vibes

by Monsbaddecisions, Self_Insert_Nonsense



Category: Friday the 13th Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Now that I've started one retcon I can continue by doing MORE, OCs - Freeform, au/noncanonwork, fandoms - Freeform, non Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:33:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23481721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monsbaddecisions/pseuds/Monsbaddecisions, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Self_Insert_Nonsense/pseuds/Self_Insert_Nonsense
Summary: Tristana was different. Far, far more different than she originally thought. When she finally decides to leave home and travel as a way to find herself, she stumbles upon a small town with an abandoned campsite. Having heard plenty of horror stories about the boy who died there, she decides to see if he's real. She may have gotten a little more than she bargained for.
Relationships: Jason Voorhees/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 10





	1. Not Your Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> there's a little bit of self harm at the end of this chapter
> 
> also i don't know if i need to put a graphic warning or not yet so i took it off. If I change my mind, and I probably will in the near future, I'll put it back.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Updated 4/10/20 by Monsbaddecisions.

One thing out of many Tris hated was being alone in the house. She always had; It was large and empty. Lonely. Cold. Everything about it just sucked the energy right out of her. She wandered the halls, soft footsteps echoing as she looked in the rooms. They all eventually had looked the same to her. They never changed over the years. Maybe neither had she. She ran her hands along the walls of her home, dust gently settling on them. Disgusted she rubbed her hand on her shirt. Their house needed a deep cleaning. 

There was a door though she had never opened, as long as she remembered it had been locked. Yet every time she passed it she had to jiggle it, just in case. But today, as she walked passed it she noticed a sliver of light peeking out that she hasn't seen there before, pushing her hand on the door for the first time it creaked open for her. Had her father forgotten to shut it before he'd left for work? He never forgot something like that. He practically had OCD over that door specifically. Tris couldn't count how many times she'd seen him unlock and re-lock the door just to make sure it really wouldn't open while he was gone.

"Never go in there," he'd told her, "I have a lot of work down there, and the last thing I need is for you to get hurt from some strange things in that room." And as always, that was the end of discussion.

She considered, for a moment, shutting the door and forgetting about it. But her curiosity for what lay beyond that door sparked the light of defiance in her. And maybe, she thought, she could just look around a little. Cautiously she walked toward the door, glancing toward the front entrance to make sure her father wouldn't barge in. As if he could feel her going against one of his top rules. It was still too early for him to be home. She would have at least an hour to look around if she pleased, and as long as she locked it behind her he would be none the wiser.

She walked past the door and felt for a second the ground under her foot disappear on her. leaning back, she caught herself with the door handle. She did not understand this was a basement. Feeling around for a light switch, she found there was none at the top of the stairs, and she would have to just walk down carefully. The old wood of the stairs creaked under her, and she was glad she was wearing her wool socks. When she reached the end of the stairs, she felt for where the light switch should be at and flipped it on. What she saw surprised her, files scattered all over the room, along with test tubes filled with strange liquids in unusual colors. She walked past the beakers and test tubes, looking at them curiously. They were all different colors, some held bubbles in their light carbonated water or soda. There was one that almost had the consistency of red jello. And others...some of them had things in them she couldn't identify at all. Too busy gawking at the scene before her, she accidentally clipped something. Her elbow had knocked into a table on her right and knocked something off of it. she turned and saw a file on the floor, pictures, and papers scattered everywhere.

She walked over to the mess, picking the papers up and watching out for the broken glass. She picked up the broken picture frame and looked at it. Wait a minute, she thought, looking at the picture again. The picture... it was a picture of her as a child! She didn't remember this photo being taken. Turning the picture over, she saw a little handwritten message familiar to her as her fathers, "Age: 5. Test subject awaiting results."

> Test... subject...? Tris frowned, glancing at the stack of papers she had collected. Curiously, she opened the yellow envelope they were originally held in. 
> 
> "Subject 283T, called Tristana, has proven to be the only one to handle experimentation. All other subjects so yet have failed. Rather than attempt to fix the situation, the government has terminated all other experiments, focusing all their attention on 283T. The Subject has grown to withstand injury. Any forms of injury heal immediately. Continued work into whether the subject can withstand forms of torture." It ended there,

she flipped the paper over looking for anything else. Growing nervous, she set the paper aside and grabbed the next dated document from the stack.

> "The Subject has begun to show signs of emotional manipulation. One doctor admitted to feelings altering upon contact with the test subject. I will make a note to perform tests to see how this development occurred. I have been tasked with taking care of Subject 283T. She will remain in my home until further notice, raised as normal as possible. When she is fully grown, she will be returned to the government facility for more in-depth analysis."

The end of another document, and another picture of a younger her on that paper. Unable to force herself to read anymore, she pushes herself away from the files. Not even bothering to pick the up, she grabs the broken picture frame and rips the back of it off. She feels the glass cut her hands as she rips the picture out of the frame. Folding it into fours, she pockets it into her shirt. The rest of her actions are in a daze. She ignores the rest of the lab and walks back up the stairs, ignoring the light-switch on her way. Closing the forbidden door behind her as a thin trail of blood runs down her left hand before stopping. Looking up at the clock, she saw she had been down there, shorter than what she felt. The bubbling feelings in her chest made her feel as if her heart was being pressurized. 

Right now she felt her room was her only sanctuary, at least until her father got home. Was he her father? she didn't know about that, or maybe anything for that matter. The files.. they looked so real, sounded so real. But this new reality didn't feel real, it all felt like a bad dream. This wasn't making sense, and it couldn't make sense. She wasn't...couldn't be what those files said she was.

A dark thought passed through her mind, and she looked at her desk. On it, a pair of scissors. She wanted to know if this was real. She'd never wanted to harm herself before, but something told her she needed to see if this was real.

Grabbing the scissors, they looked so dull in her bedroom lights. she took a deep breath and stabbed them into her arm. The pain was searing and for a moment she worried she had just done something incredibly stupid, watching the blood bubble up around the scissors. She pulled them away and inspected her arm. The wound was closing up in front of her. Blood looked as it was being sucked back into her body. The scissors fell out of her hand and clattered on the floor, tears welling in her eyes. Quickly she looked at her left hand, a small, thin trail of blood from her cut on the picture frame. But the cut itself wasn't there. 

"What the fuck WHAT THE FUCK" she threw the scissors away from her, clanging as it hit her wall and fell to the ground, "This isn't happening, this isn't happening, it.. what the fuck-," she continued her psychological attack on herself. Falling against the side of her bed, she clenched the bedcovers in her hands. Trying, attempting to get ahold of her breathing, but she couldn't. 

Clawing at her chest but there was nothing. The red marks she left on herself disappeared almost as if they were healing the moment she got them. The pain was terrible but only lasted a moment. 

Her attack on herself was stopped by the opening and closing of the front door.

* * *

Tris sat in silence, refusing to look at her father. He did not understand what was going on, why she hadn't told her usual "hello" to him. What had happened? His daughter took in front of him, looking at him with an emotion in her eyes he had never seen in them before, and one he couldn't quite figure out himself. "Are you all right sweetie? you look like your sick. Do you feel ok?" When he had taken his coat off at the door and set in on the coat rack, she hadn't dared to get near him. Treating him like he had the plague.

"...You left the door open today, the one who always told me to never open. " she finally said. His eyes widened. No... he... he couldn't have forgotten! His fears were realized when Tris pulled a picture of herself up for him to see, "I'm... I was just some kind of experiment? Some kind of science project?" Her voice was rising in anger. The room suddenly felt too close, too small. He realized her emotional manipulation was causing this, making him feel just how to hurt and angered she was. Or maybe, he was hurt and angry at himself for letting a huge slipup like this happen on what had been a perfectly normal day up till this point.

"You don't understand, Tris. This whole thing is far bigger than you could ever imagine," he explained. He couldn't explain everything, there were things even he wasn't sure of. There were things that neither of them knew"

"Did you ever even really care about me? You call me your daughter, but did you ever even think of me that way? What am I really to you? Just an experiment, right?" Tris's voice raised with every question she threw at him, all of her angry coming out in every word.

He hesitated for a moment. He had fought so hard to not grow attached to this girl. But over the years he had failed to do that, the answer to that question...of course he did. But he also had a duty, and he felt torn apart in this situation. Instead, he chose to not answer, there was no answer he could give her that would make her forgive him for what he's done to her. 

"Would you be mad if I left," she said it as a statement, instead of a question. He didn't answer, looking away. There was the feeling of a stone lodged in his throat. He wanted to stop her but he couldn't. 

Standing now, Tris walked over and picked up a bag that her father hadn't noticed before, "I'm leaving. I don't want you, or anyone, to come to find me. I need to... I need to get away from all of this. Everything I've ever known has been a lie and I don't want to be part of it anymore."

She walked out the door. He didn't try to stop her. Sitting there, left to think about how fucked up their lives were.

* * *

It was raining when Tris arrived in a small town out in the country. She had been walking for hours now, with no real destination in mind. All she knew is she wanted to separate herself far enough from the house and the man that had kept her in a prison for so many years. The feelings of hurt and betrayal had only worsened the further she walked away. What she was supposed to do with herself now she wasn't quite sure. It had taken her sleeping in bushes and walking till noon before she had come across the next town. They were all the way out in the country, with towns all across and far between. 

Right on the outskirts of the town was a run-down gas station, it had its side paneling falling off of it in heaps. The sign above the doors read "Wally's", but only one of the l's light upon the neon sign anymore. Even the gas pumps were rusted and worn down, and doubtful that anyone stopped by for gas anymore. It was a pretty sketch looking place, and Tris almost decided to just walk past it. But she really had to use the bathroom and didn't want to go in the bushes again. "ugh....alright" She walked into the little gas station, pulling her hood back and looking around. There was a teenage girl working at the counter playing on her phone, she didn't look up until she heard the late bell of the door. With a surprised look, the girl stared at Tris for a moment, "Hey," the girl said, "Your hair's cool...do you need something?" Tris blinked in surprise, touching her hair. She never thought much of her hair before, it was always kinda dull to her. Like most things about her.

"Um... thank you....Do you have a bathroom here?" The cashier pointed at a hall in the back, which Tris took as directions. The inside of the bathroom was nasty, just plain dirty like it hadn't been washed. Tris decided to just hover over the seat to do her business. Taking the time to look in the mirror while she washed her hands, she noticed there were bags under her eyes. Sleep last night hadn't been fun, she had tried to get comfortable but it's hard to do with sticks poking into your spine. After the bathroom break, she took a look around the store. Chips, beer, and over-priced snacks. It seemed like any other convenience store around. she glanced out the window, noticing a trail leading off into the woods, "Where does that go?" there was a darkness that seemed to hover over the entrance to the woods, a dark void feeling went through tris. It was giving her bad vibes, but she felt drawn to explore it.

"Oh, that trail? Goes off to an old campsite. I wouldn't go out there though. People think it's haunted. Some kid died there a long time ago and I think a couple of years back his mom went on a crazy rampage when they tried to reopen it," the girl behind the counter leaned on her arm, "You ever heard that story? It's a pretty popular horror stories. Once was watching my cousins and told them it and I think they almost shit their pants" the girl laughed.

Tris hadn't really, she had come across this town by accident. She had been practically isolated her entire life. And it wasn't like her fat- well, he just wasn't the type of man to sit down and tell her stories. "Oh, I actually haven't"

The cashier looked surprised but smiled, "Well then, I have a story for you"

"So this kid, Jason v-something, was his name... He had some kind of deformity, a lot of people thought he was mentally handicapped. The story with him is always different depending on who you ask. He was bullied at camp a lot, and one day the other kids pushed him into the lake, kids are such dicks you know? His mom tried to get the counselors to help, but they were off doing their own thing, and couldn't be bothered. So Jason drowned, poor kid. But many people don't think he stayed dead. After his mom was killed a few years back, everyone thought things were going to stop happening, but...," she looked at Tris nervously, "People have been saying he's out there. All grown, this big, hulking monster of a man in a hockey mask. Killing everyone who dares set foot in that old campsite. So for now, at least, people are staying away from there..."

Tris nodded solemnly, "That's one hell of a ghost story. Do you think it's real?" The girl shrugged, unsure of how to answer.

* * *

Midnight. Tris left the hotel she was staying in and headed straight for the forest. She wanted to see if this Jason was really like the girl said. She didn't know why she wanted to do this, but something was compelling her to find him. The rain had stopped, thankfully, making it easier to walk around the dark forest. She followed the trail for what felt like hours, before finally stumbling upon an old, decrepit looking campsite. Cautiously, she walked through the campsite, looking inside cabins to see if anything is interesting. As she continued, she thought she could hear footsteps nearby. She stopped and turned, looking around but seeing nothing. Eventually, she found a larger cabin, the door slightly ajar. She opened it further, stepping inside and looking around. It was obvious someone was living here. It had the feeling of being lived in. She kept walking, coming to a room with a closed door. She deliberated on opening it, and finally pushed the door open.

Inside, sitting in a hole, was a severed head. Tris felt her stomach drop, and she turned to leave, only to be blocked by a large man. 

She felt a horrible pain in her chest and looked down to see a large machete sticking out, blood dripping from the wound. She couldn’t talk, the pain was unbearable. She almost sighed in relief when he pulled the machete out, watching in curiosity as the wound in her chest quickly closed up. He stabbed her again, pinning her to the door this time and leaving her there for a moment. Tris wondered if she could bleed to death. He yanked the machete out, watching her fall to the floor, only to shakily stand back up, the wound closing again. He seemed irritated now, hacking at her until she was lying on the floor, covered in blood and wounds. To his surprise, she slowly stood, swaying slightly as she tried to regain her balance, the wounds all over her healing into scars, some fingers that he had chopped off grew back. She brushed the hair out of her eyes, “I didn’t come here to cause trouble, I just wanted to see if you were real, just let me leave.” 

The man tilted his head, clearly confused, and stabbed her once again. She sighed, wincing in pain as she pulled the machete back out, “Please. Jason,” he stiffened at the sound of his name. She stretched, looking down at her now tattered clothes, stained with her own blood, “I um… can’t really be killed. The pain hurts like a bitch, but I heal instantly,” she managed to skirt around him, "Well now that I know you're real I'm going to leave. I have places to be, things to do. Can't stay in one place for long periods cuz I'm pretty sure the government's after me for some reason, and God only knows if they can actually find me if I stay in one place for too long." 

Jason looked at her, still confused over what was happening. He took a step toward her, hand out in question. She stopped, turning to look at him, "What?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. He pointed to her, then to his chest, roughly where he'd stabbed her multiple times, and then pointed to his machete. She looked at him in confusion before finally understanding, “I can’t be killed because I was created to be pretty much unable to die. If that makes sense.”

He tilted his head, obviously still confused, and Tris sighed, "It's a long story and I don't think you'd be interested since you're some giant killing machine,” he seemed offended by that, stabbing the ground with his machete and leaning on the door frame, “What? You want me to actually explain it to you?” A nod. Great, Tris thought, “Ok… Shouldn’t be too hard to explain, I was basically a test tube baby, born in a lab and genetically modified to have the ability to heal almost immediately after being wounded. I can’t be killed.” \-- 

Tris shut the door to her hotel room behind her. Tearing off the remains of her outfit and throwing it into a random trash bag, she grabbed a simple, gray dress out of her suitcase and walked into the bathroom. Her body was covered in scars now, scars from the blade of a machete. She ran her finger over the large scar on her shoulder, frowning as she looked at the ugliest of the scars, right in the middle of her chest. The first place Jason had stabbed her. She got angry, suddenly, violently angry, and shattered the mirror with her fist. Looking at her hand, she glared at the glass stuck in her knuckles and fingers. She was stupid, she decided. Picking the glass out of her hand, and glaring once again as the wounds healed, she got dressed and left the bathroom, falling onto the bed. Tomorrow she would decide if she wanted to stay or leave. Her eyes were heavy and she let sleep overtake her, trying not to think about how, if she’d been normal, she’d have died tonight.

In the forest nearby, watching from behind a tree, Jason looked at the dingy hotel the strange woman he’d met went. Why didn’t she die when he stabbed her? He tried figuring it out by asking his mother, but even she didn’t have an answer for him. He decided he was going to keep an eye on her for a while, to find out if she was some kind of threat. She had seemed… very sad, after talking to him. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t keep trying to kill her at the time, just letting her vent her frustrations out and tell him about herself. He didn’t understand most of it, but he did understand when she mentioned being lonely, living in a big, empty house growing up.  He waited through the night, wondering when she would wake up, and what she would do.


	2. Chapter 2

It'd been a month since Tris had met Jason. To say things went back to some form of normalcy... would be a lie. She kept going out there and visiting him, and while he seemed rather put off these frequent visits, he eventually grew used to them and even started expecting it. He even got to the point where he didn’t like when she left because he wondered if she would come back, or if she would come to her senses and realize it was... kind of messed up hanging around a person who's killed a lot of people.

Tris finally felt like she was in control of her life. This town she was at was small enough that, hopefully, no one would know she was here. No one had seemed to be acting too out of character for a small, countryside town, and now she even had some people she could tentatively call her friend. Granted, one of those people was a giant, hockey mask wearing man living in a forest who had stabbed her multiple times in the past, but lately, she noticed that whenever he was around her, it was like the whole forest calmed down. It was... kind of nice. Peaceful, even.

Tris had also managed to get a job at that gas station in town. The girl she'd met her first day, named Kelly, had put in a good word for her after getting to know her, and helped her easily get the job. She'd found a little house close to the forest, a short walk away from the campsite so she could visit Jason whenever she wanted.

Speaking of Kelly, she was waving her hand in front of Tris' face, "Earth to Tris. You in there?" Tris blinked in surprise at her friend, "What? Sorry, I was spacing out," Tris muttered, a little embarrassed. Kelly laughed, "You were staring real hard at nothing,” her tone became teasing, “Thinking about someone?"

"What? Who would I be thinking of?" Tris rolled her eyes, trying to ignore her heartrate speeding up. Technically yes, she'd been thinking about someone, but mostly she'd just been wondering if anyone had been stupid enough to go to the campsite. The last thing she needed was Jason having to do his killing thing. She really didn't approve of it, even if she understood why it happened.

"You're zoning out again," Kelly poked her in the side. Tris jumped, "Sorry I uh... Guess I'm not focused today," just as she said that, a small group of teenagers walked in, chatting loudly with each other. Kelly grinned and went back to the storage room to clean up some, leaving Tris at the front line.

As the teens grabbed a bunch of snacks and came toward Tris, she overheard their plans, "...Really think that campsite's got some kind of psycho killer hiding out there?"

The biggest guy in the group, taller than Tris, but nowhere near as tall as Jason, snorted, "Yeah right, there's no way. It's just spooky ghost stories, nothing more,” Tris took the opportunity to enter the conversation, "You sure about that?" she asked as she scanned their items. The group died down and looked at her. She looked up at them, "I'm just saying. There's loads of news articles disproving it as a 'spooky ghost story' as you say."

"I mean, yeah. That Pamela lady went crazy and killed a bunch of people but after that it's all legends,” one of them replied. Tris frowned slightly, "There's been reported sightings of a man in a mask walking around. You really wanna risk that?" She decided to try out the emotional manipulation abilities she'd figured out how to use recently, trying to make them feel fear. It seemed to be working when the leader of the group seemed to pale a little and look nervous. She pushed a little further, "You don't want to risk being killed by some loner in the woods who just wants to be left alone, right? You're young, don't throw your lives away for some stupid weekend when you could literally go anywhere else in the country to have a good time."

That seemed to do it, the leader turned nervously to the others, "M...Maybe we shouldn't...,” the others were already nodding in agreement, "Yeah it's too dangerous. B-besides," one of the girls piped up, "What if there's other stuff out there. Like... Like bear traps or animals that could kill you."

The group left, chatting about going somewhere else for the weekend. Tris smiled to herself. Well at least those kids weren't going to be stupid. She wondered if the emotional manipulation stayed with them long enough to go find something more interesting to do.

\--

Tris walked into the old cabin, looking around, "Jason?" She called. She didn't see him immediately, and wandered to the back room where Pamela's head was. She peeked in to see if he was in there. Nope. She glanced uneasily at the severed head, nodding politely to it and leaving the room. She didn't like going in there, it always felt like the head was watching her, judging her.

She left the cabin. He must be out on his little patrol, she thought. Tris went off the trail, following one of the "not-trails" as she called them, that Jason walked. She wasn't paying attention and walked into a bear trap, yelping in pain and surprise. She looked down to see what had happened, "Great," she squatted down, fiddling with the bear trap to try and get it off. She looked up and saw Jason staring at her, his head tilted in question, but an unamused glint in his good eye, "Hey there, little help?" She smiled sheepishly at him. He walked over to her silently and opened the trap with ease. She moved her foot away, checking to make sure it healed up correctly, "Thanks."

He stared at her. Tris felt irritation practically radiating from him, "Hey don't be mad. I convinced some dumb teenagers to not come out here and bother you. At least five of them. I didn’t mean to get stuck in your bear trap, I just wasn’t paying attention."

He nodded toward the campsite. Tris blinked in surprise and walked over toward it, keeping herself hidden. Sure enough, three teens were hanging out, wandering around the campsite. They were from that group earlier.

Tris fought the urge to sigh, "Well that's just fantastic, thought I convinced all of them…," she muttered. She felt another surge of irritation wave off Jason, "Hey, I can tell you're mad about them but let me talk them out of this place ok? I have a way to do that now,” He looked at her, unsure, but nodded after a moment of hesitation. Tris made her way over to the teens, "Hey I thought I told you guys this place wasn't safe. What are you doing out here? This is trespassing."

"Oh geez you again. Listen lady you might have managed to scare our friends but some goofy horror story isn't gonna scare us away," one of the teens said. The other two nodded. The girl in the group, a different one than the girl Tris remembered, said, "What are YOU doing out here, anyway? Kinda suspicious that you just happened to be out here."

Tris pointed in the direction of her house, "I literally live right over there. I like to come out here to keep teens out because it's dangerous. I almost stepped in a bear trap earlier," she pushed her weight from one foot to the other, making sure that her foot was actually okay, "Oh really? Where?" The other girl asked. Tris pointed vaguely in the direction she’d come, "That way but I'm being serious. I don't think you guys should be here," she decided to try making them scared again. Jason watched silently, wondering how she was going to convince them to leave.

Two of the three teens started looking nervous, "Hey... maybe she's right you know...?" The leader of the little group seemed the most unphased, "Oh please, she's just trying to scare you,” Tris frowned, forcing some more of her ability out, trying to make panic set in for the small group, "Kid, listen," Tris was getting tired. She'd used her ability a little too much today, she realized, and was having trouble standing upright.

Jason watched from his hiding spot in the forest, noticing Tris starting to wobble. Panic began to set in for him as he saw her stumble slightly, did he need to go out there? He took a step forward, stopping when he saw Tris look directly at him, slightly shaking her head. He wasn’t used to anyone but his mother telling him what do to, so for her to boldly tell him to stop was surprising and caught him off guard. He waited.

"It's not... It’s not safe,” Tris said, her words beginning to slur, “You need to… god you need to get out of here,” she was struggling. She forced a little bit more energy out, finally seeing panic fill the man’s eyes, “Hey are you okay..?” She swatted his hands away as he reached for her, “Ma’am do you need a hospital?”

”No! You-you need… you need to…,” she felt herself collapse, her eyes struggling to stay open as she watched Jason come out of the forest, machete raised. Dammit, she thought, I tried so hard… Her vision blurred as the world turned dark around her just as the screaming began, sounding far off and echoing in her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Tris woke up in her home. She sat up suddenly, wondering what happened. She felt funny. Looking down, she noticed some blood splatter on her clothes. Paling, she shakily got out of bed and noticed a trail leaving her room. Following the trail, she wound up in the bathroom, where Jason was standing. She could feel a large amount of fear radiating off of him, and she walked over to him slowly, "Hey...," she said softly, "Jason what happened?"

He turned to her. She could see the worry in his good eye, "Were you... worried about me? I remembered you… you like… you ran out of the forest right as I was collapsing," The shift in mood told her that yes, he had been worried about her. He had seen her pass out and it frightened him.

She looked between the two of them, he had more blood on him than she did, "Did you... kill them?" He didn't answer, turning to look at the mirror instead. Tris stood next to him and looked at the mirror as well. Her body was covered in dried blood, some of it was in her hair, matting it to her forehead. Her unusually colored eyes practically glowed against all the dark color. I look like I got the shit beaten out of me, she thought, touching the dried blood on her clothes.

“I need a shower,” she announced, “I’m disgusting and I don’t know how I got that way, so unless you want to stay here for some kind of weird peep show, and I know you well enough at this point to know you don’t, I’d suggest getting out of here so I can get these clothes off and then wash up so I don’t look like a zombie,” Jason took the hint, embarrassment flowing off him as he practically ran out of the room. Tris laughed to herself, watching him run off.

\--

Now cleaned, Tris got to work cleaning her home up, "The last thing I need is someone seeing the blood and worrying, you know?" She told Jason. He nodded in understanding and left, waiting for her outside.

When she finished cleaning the house up, she gathered her bloodied clothes up and took them outside, throwing them into a pit in her backyard. She went and set the clothes on fire, watching them burn. Jason stood nearby, silent as usual. She felt a little sad about burning her clothes, but she couldn’t wear them in public ever again, and the blood would take forever to get off, so she just decided to be rid of it altogether.

A strange, new feeling washed over Tris suddenly. She perked up slightly and turned to Jason, realizing it was coming from him, “You okay dude?” He jumped, looking at her in confusion, "You were feeling kinda weird just now right? You seemed confused by it too, actually," he nodded, looking back at the fire. Tris turned back to it, too, sitting on the ground and tucking her knees under her chin, "This has been a really weird day."

She could tell he agreed. She glanced up at him, wondering what he was thinking. He was staring intensely at the fire, as if deep in thought. She could feel the confused feeling coming from him again, but other emotions were mixed in. A little bit of anger, that was probably either toward her for being careless or the teens for being there in the first place, a little bit of worry, that was definitely toward her, something else that she once again didn't recognize, probably because of how buried under the other emotions it was.

"You wanna talk about it? Can you talk? I've been meaning to ask that, I have no idea if you can even speak," she felt both slight irritation and amusement from Jason, so she felt like she'd at least made him want to laugh a little. He shook his head. So that was a no, "Ok... so if you can't talk...," Tris thought for a moment, "Do you know how to write?" Jason shrugged, he figured he might know a little, but he wasn't sure. He hadn't had a reason to write in... well, years.

Tris sighed, "There's gotta be a better way to communicate with you outside of me just feeling your emotions. That can only go so far," she fell back on the grass, another sigh escaping her as she looked up at the night sky, "I really love it out here, you know. It’s nice that you stopped trying to kill me because now I can just… enjoy being out here."

Jason looked down at her as she talked, "Being cooped up in a cold, empty building day in and day out really got to me, I think. But now I get to see all this," she waved her arm toward the sky, "And, well, it makes me happier every day that I ended up getting out of there."

There it was again, that strange feeling she didn't recognize coming from Jason. She turned her head slightly, "You wanna lay down and just kinda look up at the sky with me?" He looked at her like she'd lost it. She smiled, pushing her hair out of her face. The unrecognizable feeling grew stronger. She'd felt this somewhere, but she couldn't figure out where or toward who.

Jason, after some careful deliberation, finally complied, lying down on the ground next to her and looking up at the sky, "See, isn't it nice to just relax for a little while?" She grinned. He turned his head slightly so he could see her face, then turned back to the sky.

She could see him nod out of the corner of her eye , "You know it's kinda weird that I'm hanging around you. I mean, you're a loner who stays out here in the middle of nowhere and kills people who trespass, and I'm some weird science experiment that you stabbed a whole bunch. We're some kind of weird pair, huh?"

She felt Jason freeze when she said the word "pair" but he seemed to calm down a little and nod again. She laughed, relaxing into the grass again. This was a weird scenario, but she didn't mind it. She moved her hair to cover her eye again, so she didn’t see Jason turning to look at her, that strange feeling was back and he was trying to suppress it so she didn’t feel it, too.

He liked her, but he didn’t really want to admit that. He didn’t want her to run away or be freaked out. Considering she said she’d literally been trapped in a house nearly her whole life, she probably understood romantic feelings as much as he did— not much at all.

Still, something about her drew him to her. She was unusual, and for some reason his mother’s voice never spoke around her. She did the first time they met, telling him the usual “kill her Jason!” but… after that night, nothing. She was still there, but when Tris showed up, she disappeared. As much as he loved his mother, the silence was kind of welcome. He looked back up at the night sky, glancing down and seeing Tris’ hand lying on the ground, fiddling with the grass absentmindedly. He wanted to hold her hand, so much smaller than his, but refrained, keeping his hands clasped together. The two stayed in place for several hours, occasionally with Tris talking about something and Jason making small noises in recognition.

\--

About three months after that night, Tris woke up in the middle of the night, finally realizing what the feeling was, "Oh, my God," she muttered. Heat filled her cheeks as she placed her head in her hands, "Oh my God he likes me. He really... really likes me. Oh my God how do I face him knowing that. Do I like him back?" She stilled, thinking the question again. DID she like him back? Like that? She'd never even seen his face!

...Did that even matter to her? Not really. She knew the stories of why he hid his face. He was deformed and probably very self-conscious about it. Didn't help that he was kind of undead? Oh God was she falling for a zombie? She breathed slowly, trying to calm herself down. It's not that weird, he has a heartbeat, right? He's just kinda... gray because his blood flow is slow. He's... alive? Kind of? Maybe. Jesus Christ, thought Tris, is this actually a thing that's happening? Could she not have anything normal?

She looked at her bedside clock. It was about 5 in the morning. Jason was probably awake now. Maybe she should go visit him. Figure out what's happening between them. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, she thought to herself. She climbed out of her bed and walked out of her house, still barefoot in her pajamas. She didn't care, this was important.

She made her way down the trail she'd grown familiar with, avoiding the traps with ease after she'd learned Jason had a pattern set up. She reached the cabin. Sure enough, she could see his shape looming through one of the broken windows, moving around. Steeling herself, she walked toward the door, only to be met halfway by a very confused Jason.

"You saw me through the window right?" She'd asked. He nodded, pointing to her, then wrapping his arms around himself, "No, I'm not cold. I promise. Can’t even feel the cold right now," she smiled a little at his concern, "Um, listen... Jason... I need to talk to you about-"

She was cut off by movement. To her surprise, it was one of the other teens she saw at the gas station months ago. The leader of the group. He looked haggard, like he'd been wandering around for hours. She was pretty sure he was drunk, too. Tris froze, surprised for a moment, then turned to Jason, remembering he'd killed this person's friends, "Oh no."

"Come out here you motherfucker!” He yelled, “I know you’re in there you fucking bastard! I can see you moving around! Come out here and fucking face me for killing my fucking friends!” Tris frowned, and, hoping to descalate the situation, opened the door and stepped out, Jason behind her. The leader’s weary eyes widened, “You’re the creepy bitch from the gas station! You’re… You’re part of this?”

“Not necessarily,” she responded, eyeing the shotgun in his hand, “Listen, I’m sorry about what happened, but you’re not in the right mindset right now, you need to leave!”

"Shut the fuck up!" He pointed his gun at her. Tris wondered for a moment if it would actually kill her. She knew what usually happened to people shot with a gun like that, "I live right over there," she pointed in the general direction of her house, "I help guard this place now, and you're trespassing."

"The hell I am. Your fucking zombie boyfriend killed my friends!" He pointed to Jason, who looked mildly offended that someone was trespassing. Tris ignored the boyfriend quip, "Your friends should have heeded my warning!" She reminded him, "But they didn't. I don't like what happened to them, but if they had listened to me, it wouldn't have happened in the first place."

"Shut the fuck up!" He yelled again. Tris looked at him, calm energy floating off her and onto him, "You aren't thinking rationally. If you leave, you can live,” she ignored Jason’s confusion, “If you don't leave, if you shoot either of us, it won't end well for you. I can't control him. I can keep him from killing you by making you leave, but if you don't leave it will no longer be anything I can do. Do you want to make things harder for your other friends?"

He hesitated for a moment, lowering his gun slightly. Jason was shaking, he wanted this man gone! He had pointed a gun at Tris, he was trespassing! But he looked at Tris, who was standing calmly, and felt himself slowly stop shaking. Something was telling him it would be ok if he let her handle it. Just this once.

"Just leave, kid. Forget this whole thing happened. I'm sorry I wasn't able to save your friends," Tris was sincere, "I tried to get them to leave the day that all happened but I didn't stop them in time. Don't make the same mistake they made."

The teen started crying, dropping the gun, "I just... I just..."

Tris felt tears forming in her eyes. Damn these empathy powers for working both ways. She could really feel how angry and heartbroken he was over his friends' deaths. Jason had no idea what was happening, but he saw Tris crying and tensed up. She placed a hand on his arm, sniffling a little, "I'm fine."

She got the teen to leave, keeping the shotgun with her, "If you tell anyone what happened... I can't stop the consequences," she warned him, watching him as he tearfully left the camp.

\--

"I think I'm gonna go back to my house and forget this whole night happened," Tris muttered, rubbing her forehead. Jason tilted his head, why did you come here, he seemed to ask. Oh, she thought, right…, "Of course you want to know what I was doing coming out here... I don't really know," she muttered, embarrassed, "It's not important. I have work in a couple of hours."

She turned to leave when she felt one of his hands grab hers. She turned in surprise, looking up at him. He looked at their hands, as if wondering why he did that. Slowly he moved his hand so their fingers were intertwined, causing Tris' face to turn red, "I... Well um…,” she didn’t let go of his hand, the two standing there awkwardly as they refused to look at each other. His hand was surprisingly warm, she thought that, since he was kind of undead, that he might be cold. Maybe he was more alive than she’d first thought.

His shoulders shook. He was laughing at her! Or with her, Tris couldn't really tell at the moment. He walked with her back to her house, not letting go of her hand until they reached her back door. Reluctantly, she let go, smiling almost shyly at him, "We'll talk about whatever that was when I get home, okay?"

He nodded, turning to leave. Tris breathed out, not realizing she'd been holding her breath for a moment, and turned to go get ready for her day. Hopefully things would be better now


	4. Chapter 4

Tris was in a daze all day. The rain had started up again, and she kept looking outside. She wondered if Jason was staying dry. She hoped no one stupid decided to go to the campsite again. She was zoning out really bad when she overheard some people talking. Looking over, she saw another group of people, this time closer to her age, chatting with Kelly. All girls.

"So there's nobody here, really?" One girl, a blonde, asked. Kelly shook her head, "Not really no. I mean, we have lots of older guys but uh... don't think they'd be your type," she joked. Tris smirked. Kelly was right, she supposed. Then again, Tris was still struggling to figure out her feelings toward Jason so she really didn't have a right to say anything.

A brunette woman came over to Tris, "You ok ma'am? You seem like you're kind of zoned out."

"Yeah, sorry. The rain kinda does that to me," not entirely false. The rain was a constant reminder of her first day here, how everything had changed so drastically for her, "You find everything you wanted?" The girl nodded, smiling kindly, "You don't seem like you're from around here," she said. Tris shrugged, "I moved here a few months back. Needed to find myself, you know? Realized that small town life was way more inviting than where I was originally."

Another blonde, her hair in a high ponytail, walked over, "I dunno how you chose this over a different place. It's so.... dingy,” Tris just smiled sweetly, "When you live cramped in a house for almost your entire life like I did, any change of scenery is a big step in the right direction,” Ponytail frowned, not sure if Tris was being passive aggressive or just friendly.

The group left, saying something about checking out the campsite, causing Tris to grow very still. Crap, she thought, they were gonna die. Unless she managed to go stop Jason in time. They’d all been innocent girls, she looked frantically at her coworker, who was looking back at her in concern, "Hey Tris, you wanna call it quits for today? You look kinda sick," Kelly asked. Tris blinked, looking at her coworker, "Uh, yeah I'm uh... I'm not feeling too great."

\--

The rain had picked up as Tris ran past her house and into the forest, going toward the campsite. She was hoping to get there before Jason. Sure enough, he was walking toward the campsite and she ran by him, turned around, and stopped in front of him. Mustering up her courage, she called out to him, "Jason," she felt really awkward in that moment, drenched from the heavy rain, staring up at her first real friend, who wanted nothing more than to go and get rid of some people trespassing, "I know you saw those girls, and I know you want them to leave, but please," she was on the verge of begging, "No killing tonight. Please."

He looked at her for a moment, then shook his head, beginning to move around her. She stepped in front of him again, her arms out, "Jason please. St...Stay with me tonight instead," she stuttered out, suddenly very embarrassed with how her phrasing had sounded, "We can go back to my cabin and dry off and... we can really talk about whatever's going on between us. Just please," she stepped forward, closing the distance between the two of them and placing her hand over his, "Just... stay with me."

He looked down at her, then up to the campsite in the distance, clearly conflicted. He had the voice of his mother shouting that he needed to kill those women at the camp, that they were all probably horrible women doing bad things and needed to be punished, but then he looked at Tris, looked into her turquoise eyes as they practically glowed in the darkness, and the voice all but vanished.

"They aren't bad people, Jason. I met them earlier at work. They're nice women, Jason," Tris stepped another step closer, gripping his large hand with both of hers. She turned the two of them around and began walking toward her house, "Come on. Please."

He followed, occasionally glancing back at the camp, still conflicted.

\--

"Do you...like me?" Tris asked him. He sat there, a towel draped over him. Tris felt the warm emotions flowing off him. She smiled a little, taking that as a confirmation, "I think I like you too, you know. I’m still working everything out, but when I figure something specific out, I’ll let you know, ok?" she reached over and grabbed his hand. He hesitated slightly before interlacing his fingers with hers, “I’ve gotten very comfortable with you, and I want you to be comfortable, too.”

He looked at their hands, his other hand coming over to hold her hand as well. He was focused on looking at their hands, seeing how small hers were compared to his.

"Jason," she muttered, making him look up. She smiled softly, "If it makes you feel better, this is my first real friendship."

Hm, she thought, that surprised him, "Jason, I've told you before, when I said I wasn't allowed out of the house as a child, I really meant it. I didn't interact with people outside of my dad and the occasional 'friend' of my dad's until I got here."

He nodded. He remembered her telling him that. Tris looked at the large man. Something about how he was acting warmed her heart. He was almost shy, nervous. Tris reached up and touched the side of his face, a part that wasn't covered by his mask. He jumped, almost leaning away, worry in his eye.

Tris waited, holding her hand out, patient. Slowly, never taking his eye off her, Jason leaned back into her hand, finally relaxing a little. She smiled, "Boy... you're real touch starved, aren't you... Heh... that makes two of us, I guess."

She was pretty sure he liked her as more than a friend, and until she worked out her own feelings, she was happy to know he was fine being only friends until something changes.

\--  
The next day was absolutely unpleasant. She'd been checking some items out when she noticed some mysterious people walking into the building. An uneasy feeling washed over her as she felt their emotions. It was... Sinister. She walked over to Kelly, keeping her eyes on them to make sure they didn't see her, "Hey I'm going on break. If those people say anything weird, or ask about me, I'm not here, ok?"

"Everything ok?" She asked quietly, looking at the strange men. Tris shook her head, "Some problems from my past, I think. Better you don't know. Listen… it might be better for me to leave early. Tell the boss I’m still feeling sick, and needed to go home again, ok?”

She nodded and Tris quietly exited out the back door, running as fast as possible to her cabin. Shutting the door behind her, she leaned against it for a moment, but stood quickly and grabbed some important items. Realizing this was probably a lot more serious than she’d realized, she texted Kelly, saying she was going out of town for a few days and to keep her posted on if and when the strange men left. Sneaking out of her house, she made her way to Jason's cabin.

Jason opened the door in surprise when Tris ran inside, throwing her bag on the couch as she turned to shut the door, "Some people might be out here looking for me. I’m gonna be staying here a few days till they’re gone."

Jason tensed, anger and fear radiating from him, "I don't think they saw me, but Jason. If they saw me....," she frowned, her turquoise eyes growing dark, "You may have to kill them. They might come out here. They might be looking for me. I can't.... I can't go where they want me to go."

He held his hand out to her, palm up. She looked at him, realizing he was offering his hand. She placed her hand in his and he squeezed it sympathetically. He would protect her. She may be invulnerable to injury, but she could still feel pain, and he would try his damndest to make sure no one took her away.

\--

She couldn't sleep. Jason was still out, patrolling the area to make sure no one was around to potentially hurt Tris. She glanced out the window occasionally, hoping to see his hulking figure walk out of the forest. Every time he didn't show up, she sighed and leaned away from the window.

She couldn't figure out how these people might have found her. She was pretty sure they were from the company her "father" had been working for. Part of the government. People who wanted to turn her into some weird, nonhuman supersoldier or something. Tris chewed nervously on her fingernails, leaning to look out the window again, when her blood went cold.

Standing by the trees wasn't Jason, but one of the men she'd seen earlier. Oh shit, she thought, oh shit, oh shit, oh SHIT! She moved away from the window, stepping slowly away to the hallway, looking for something she could use to defend herself with.

Jason's machete was lying on the ground near the back door. Picking it up and holding it in both hands, she backed up further, going to Jason's room. Her arms were shaking. She knew they couldn't kill her. She was sure they couldn't kill her.

But she knew they could hurt her.

Right as the thought passed through her head, the door was burst open, gunfire ringing through the small cabin. Tris felt some of the bullets hit her, screaming in pai, but they popped out of her as her skin healed. She stood in the doorway, shaking still as she held the heavy weapon up, "Wh-what do you want?" She asked.

"Subject 283T. You were supposed to be returned to the labs upon your 18th year, but the scientist caring for you failed to do so, as at least 6 years have passed that date. His job has been terminated and we have come to retrieve you."

"Fat fucking chance," Tris growled. She was still shaking, but she held the heavy machete up threateningly. The man didn't flinch, standing his ground as he stared her down, "Resisting is not an option, 283."

"My name is Tris! I'm not some fucking lab rat!" She yelled. The man stepped forward, "You are not trained to kill. It is in your system, but without the training you need, you will only end up dropping the weapon and come with me."

"Fuck you!" She yelled, stepping back. He took another step, "Put the weapon down and we will go quietly,” she noticed his hand behind his back, "What's behind you?"

"It's a gun, 283. I put it behind me to show you I do not intend on harming you,” she held the machete up higher, "Drop it,” he didn't drop it, instead pointing it directly at her chest, "This gun is filled with tranquilizers, one shot will knock you out completely."

She glared, holding her ground, "Put the machete down," he repeated. She felt like she was going to lose at this, she started lowering her weapon, when suddenly the man lurched forward to grab her, and Tris pulled the machete back up to block him.

It pierced through him, blood splattering across her face and chest. She was aware of a dull pain in her chest, and she looked down, noticing he had stabbed her with a syringe. Tris heard a choked noise and she looked back up, realizing what was happening. The man dropped the gun, shaking violently as blood bubbled out of his mouth. She dropped the machete, the man still stuck to it falling as well, blood pooling on the floor.

Tris thought of nothing for a moment, watching the man writhe on the floor. She was going to be sick. Leaning against the wall, she placed a hand on the spot where she’d been stabbed by the syringe. Looking at his hand, she noticed the shot in question was empty. Meaning that she was going to most likely pass out. Shakily, she walked around the now still body, stumbling to the door just as she saw Jason running. Tears in her eyes, she ran toward him, tumbling into his arms as she cried. Jason, awkwardly unsure of what to do, gingerly put his arms around her, stroking her hair. She sobbed, stuttering out what happened and mentioning the dead man on the floor.

After a little while, she managed to calm down, only to realize her vision getting fuzzy. She stumbled away from Jason, nearly falling to the ground when he caught her. She looked at him with half opened eyes, mumbling about tranquilizers and how that man had injected her. Jason picked her up and carried her inside, stepping carefully over the dead body, before setting her down on the couch. Tris slumped over, her head lolling as she tried desperately to stay awake. Jason was about to leave again, when she simply whimpered, “Stay.”

He stopped and turned, looking at her with worry. He walked over and sat by her, helping her get comfortable as she finally succumbed to the tranquilizers, falling unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5

Tris awoke with a start, trembling violently as she looked around the room. She was still at Jason’s shack, and she had a blanket covering her.

Catching a glimpse of the man she had killed, still lying on the floor in his own blood, Tris gagged and looked away.

On the small table near her was a piece of paper, childish handwriting on it, “Out. Back soon. Stay.”

Jason must have written that note for her. She smiled a little, so he could write. She wondered how long it had been since he had written anything.

Getting up, she glanced warily at the dead body again, cringing at her memories from before passing out.

Resigning herself, she walked over and gingerly picked up the corpse, trying to fight the urge to vomit as the smell of blood hit her. She noticed a lot of it had coagulated and she wondered how long she’d been unconscious, or why Jason hadn’t cleaned this himself.

She drug the body out back, out of sight for now, and covered it with leaves. When Jason came back he could go throw it into the lake to dispose of it. Either that or the animals in the forest would eat it. Tris didn’t care. She just wanted it gone.

Walking back inside, she glanced at the large pool of blood. As she had noticed, it wasn’t really a liquid anymore, more so a thick mass. Shuddering, she decided to start trying to clean it up. She wanted all evidence of that man gone.

—

Jason returned sometime later, confused over the smell of bleach in his home. Tris stepped out from behind the wall, jumping, “Oh Jesus! Jason don’t do that holy shit.”

He tilted his head, realizing the body from earlier was gone.

“Oh I uh... it’s out back,” Tris mumbled, “I couldn’t let it stay in here or else I would have screamed or puked or something.”

Jason pat her head affectionately. Good job, he seemed to say. 

Tris just shrugged, “I couldn’t help it I really wanted to get it out of here.”

Jason nodded in understanding, walking over and picking up the note he had written. She smiled slightly, “How long has it been since you’ve written anything?”

He turned to look at her, then at the paper, and shrugged.

“Remind me to help figure out a better way to communicate. Either we both learn sign language or something I don’t know yet.”

He nodded, agreeing with her. Not being able to talk made communication a bit difficult for the two of them. He wondered how difficult sign language was, or if he should try learning to hone his writing skill.

Tris looked down at herself, “I... need to burn these clothes. Maybe I can get to my house without a problem,” she glanced outside, taking in the darkened sky, “Ah... great. It’s dark and I’d probably wind up in one of your traps.”

He seemed to think about it for a moment, then walked away, coming back with a bundle of clothes.

“Jason I don’t know if I can wear your stuff, you’re a lot bigger than me...”

He insisted, handing her the clothes. She smiled, thanked him, and walked to the back to change.

The pants were a no go, but the shirt was big enough to be a dress. Tris looked around and, finding a rope, tied it around her waist. There, Tris thought, button up dress.

She walked back to the main room, spinning, “Your shirt was too big but I made it work.”

He nodded, feeling his heart pound a little quicker. He forgot his heart still beat sometimes, but Tris wearing one of his shirts made him feel happy.

“I told my boss and my coworker I’d be off for a few days, so I guess I could stay out here in case more of those men show up?”

Jason nodded, settling down on the couch. He felt nervous for some reason, wondering why. Tris walked over and sat beside him, sighing tiredly, “How long was I out anyway? It must have been a few hours...”

Jason held up his hands, indicating about four hours. She sighed, frustrated, “That’s unfortunate. Wonder if things will go back to whatever kind of normal we have now.”

Jason certainly hoped so. He could tell Tris hoped that it would, too.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey a chapter without Jason in it except for a brief mention? I’m getting better at this!

“Hey welcome back!” Tris looked up to see Kelly smiling at her warmly. Tris nodded and smiled back, relieved to see a familiar face.

“Did you ever see anymore of those guys I was worried about?” Tris asked. She felt her shoulders relax when her coworker shook her head.

Life continued as normal. Some annoying teenagers walked in and blabbed about going to the campsite, which Tris dismissed and said the place was condemned and anyone who went would be risking getting injured. Not a complete lie but not the whole truth, either.

They didn’t listen. Tris simply sighed and went about her business.

“How come you’re so adamant about keeping people outta that camp?” Kelly asked. Tris froze for a moment, before lying and responding with, “I’ve been out there a few times and it’s dangerous. I’m pretty sure someone is setting bear traps out there.”

“Hmm that’s true. I thought maybe you believed Jason was real or something.”

Tris felt her face heat up, “Ah well I... there’s always that too, I guess...”

—

She arrived home and sank to the floor, her head aching from the long work day. She wondered if those teens were going to make it through the night. If they came here she wouldn’t let them in. She warned them.

How callous of me, she thought to herself. Shrugging, she went and changed out of her work uniform, and then decided to lie on the couch.

She wondered if she should let them in if they were chased. Probably shouldn’t, if they lived they might figure out she visits Jason regularly. That was a secret she wanted to keep to herself.

A knock at the door scared her. It wasn’t frantic pounding like she expected. It was curt, respectful. She recognized it.

“Go away,” she said softly, “How did you even find me...”

“That’s why I need to speak with you,” her ‘father’s’ voice had a strange sense of urgency to it. Cautiously standing, she went to the door and looked out the window.

It was him. He seemed to be alone. She let him in, “If you have a way to kill me you better try it.”

“I’m here to warn you, Tris,” his use of her nickname surprised her. She narrowed her eyes and waited.

“The government found out that I never returned you to the facility on your 18th birthday. I was able to get away with it for a few years because they assumed you had perished as a child, like the others in the experiment. I had... grown fond of you. Regardless of what you think of me I do think of you as my daughter. And while I have been horrible as a parental figure, keeping secrets and keeping you trapped in that god awful house for years specifically, I have been making an effort to keep you hidden from them.”

“So how did you, and I guess them too, find me?”

“You have a chip in your arm. It was planted there when you were 9 years old, and it activated the moment you left home. You have to remove it.”

“How am I supposed to...,” she trailed off when she thought about her healing abilities, “Will it cancel out everything?”

“No. You were genetically modified. The chip came later. Tristana, I don’t want you to be caught. For right now they know where you are. If you get the chip and remove it... I’ll take it and they’ll follow me.”

She was surprised, “How can I trust you? You aren’t even my dad... you’re some... scientist that made me in a lab.”

He held up a picture of himself, a woman who looked similar to Tris, and a baby with the same vibrant eyes as Tris, “I and another scientist donated our dna to help create you. In a strange way, you really are my daughter.”

She had no idea what to do. He looked worried, “Tris if you don’t do this they’ll just keep coming and they’ll attack you.”

“Where’s the chip?”

He cautiously walked over and rolled her sleeve back, “It’s here, feel.”

She pressed her fingers on her arm. Sure enough, a strange, square bump was there. She looked frantically at him, then lurched away and grabbed a pair of scissors nearby.

“I’m cutting it out of me,” she said softly, wincing as the scissors pierced her skin. She worked as fast as she could, finally pulling skin away to reveal a small computer chip.

Her father grabbed it and yanked. She yelped and the skin on her arm fell back into place, instantly healing.

“This will be the last time I ever see you, I think,” he said forlornly, holding the small chip. Tris felt her heart ache slightly.

“Someday I hope I can forgive you for making me,” she said softly. She watched him leave, hoping the worst was behind her.

At that moment, she heard a scream, and the sound of her door being hit repeatedly as one of the teenagers tried to come in. Tris shut and locked her door, turning her lights off and hiding under the table till it was all over.


	7. Chapter 7

For now, things felt normal. Tris would go to town and pretend nothing strange was happening, she would go home, and she would visit Jason if he wasn’t busy. Things felt almost normal again.

Except Tris had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Her father had left the picture of him and the scientist who was technically her mother. A growing part of Tris wanted to find her, hopefully get some questions answered...

She considered it might be a good idea to genuinely get away for a while. Once the people chasing her realized she no longer had her tracker, the first place they might look would be here.

She bought two phones, coming up with a plan. Jason would stay at her house, so he would have access to a phone charger, and they would text until she came home.

That way he knew she wouldn’t be leaving forever, and she could genuinely talk to him.

He seemed hesitant at first, the phone feeling small and fragile in his large hands. She smiled at him, “I think you’ll be fine. We can run tests first before I leave. That way you know what you’re doing.”

They practiced for several days, only stopping when Tris had to work or Jason had to make his rounds for Crystal Lake. He was finally starting to understand it.

After about a month, Tris finally packed up to go on a road trip to find her “mother.” There had been an address on the back of the picture, and she knew it would be a good place to start.

“I hopefully won’t be gone too long, and I’ll make sure to keep you updated, ok?” She told Jason. He sighed, not wanting her to leave. He liked having her around and he was worried she wouldn’t want to come home.

She frowned and tapped her chin before grinning, “Oh! I know,” standing on her tiptoe, she kissed the side of his mask, “You’ll get another one when I come home!”

He seemed very embarrassed, his ears burned and he made a small noise as he scratched his arm.

She waved goodbye and left, climbing in her car and driving off.

-

“U up?”

“Yed. Yes”

“Still struggling?”

“Fingers too big”

“You’ll get the hang of it! :)”

Tris smiled at her phone. It was kind of weird finally finding a way to actually communicate with the silent giant of a man, but she didn’t mind it.

“3 campers today,” his text read, “Only scared them. Promise.”

“Good. Please try to keep the you know what to a minimum.”

She glanced at the clock on the little table next to her hotel bed. 2am. She should sleep but she couldn’t.

“What are you up to?” She sent.

“Patrolling.”

“Ah. You do that a lot.”

“Peaceful. The animals are nice.”

“Watch out for your traps ok?”

“That was one time...”

She chuckled, typing, “I’m going to bed ok? Goodnight!”

“<3,” was his only response.

Her face felt warm. She didn’t teach him that. Setting her phone down on the table, she curled up in her bed, wondering if he sent that little emoticon heart on purpose.

—

Why had he sent that? It was a little heart, and he liked being able to express himself a bit more...

But he felt he overstepped a boundary. He still wasn’t even sure if Tris liked him as more than a friend. She had kissed him but it could easily have been interpreted as platonic.

Jason tucked the little phone away, keeping it safe so it didn’t break. She hadn’t been gone very long yet, but the emptiness of her absence was very noticeable.

He wondered what his mother must think. She had been strangely silent since Tris showed up. He missed hearing her voice, but a part of him wondered if she wouldn’t approve of his tiny friend.

But then again maybe she would. His mother was always very kind, and surely if someone was kind to him she would feel they were worthy of being around him.

He went to his little shrine for his mother. He sat for a while and stared silently as his thoughts swirled around in his head.

He wondered if Tris would still like him after seeing his face. Everyone except his mother always said he was scary or gross. Tris never seemed to mind being around him, but his mask was keeping his full self from being seen.

He liked her and he wanted her to like him too. Jason never felt like this for anyone before. The desire to be wanted and needed by another adult had never crossed his mind. He had just been angry. Angry at everyone. And while it was true he did try to kill her the first time they met, Tris had gotten right back up and persisted.

He liked that about her. He liked her a lot. That was why he had sent the heart. He wanted her to know he liked her. He worried she would be uncomfortable, but if she would rather be friends he wouldn’t mind. Just having someone around him that he didn’t want to kill was nice.

He didn’t see the figures behind him until it was too late and three large tranquilizers were stabbed into him.

—

Tris looked up at the house, nervous. What if she didn’t live here anymore?

Knocking quickly, she waited. And waited. And waited.

No one must be home, she thought. Sighing, she went and sat on the porch, her head in her hands. All this way for nothing, she assumed.

Looking up, she saw a little girl looking at her in question, “I like your hair,” she said to Tris.

“Thanks... um... you wouldn’t happen to know this woman, would you?” She showed the child the picture. The girl nodded, “Yeah she died in some kinda weird accident last year. It was really sad. My mama told me no one goes in that house anymore.”

A dead end. Sighing, Tris stood, “Thank you.”

She trudged to her car, ready for the long ride home, when her phone buzzed. Thinking it was Jason, she checked.

“We have him. Come to this address,” the text read. Tris felt her blood grow cold as she jumped in her car to speed off, hoping to find Jason.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some gore mention! Not too detailed but still, you know, better safe than sorry. Plus it could always be edited later to have a lot more detail

Tris had arrived at the coordinates she’d been given. She quickly got out of the car, only to stop and think. If they had managed to capture Jason, of all people, who knows what these people could do to her?

Swallowing her fear, she walked into the building, immediately getting swarmed by people in lab coats. She didn’t fight, she was afraid that if she did, they could hurt her or Jason. That was the absolute last thing she wanted.

One of the scientists strapped her to a table, and she watched in quiet fear as they left the room. Chewing on her bottom lip, she wondered what was going to happen. She had basically given herself a kind of death sentence, she was pretty sure. They would either kill her or finish whatever they’d started with her.

“Let me go! I didn’t want any of this!” A new voice rang out desperately. Tris craned her neck to see her father, beaten and bruised, fighting to break free of his restraints. Jason walked quietly behind, thick chains weighing him down.

“I’m impressed with you,” one of the scientists said, looking at Tris, “You really expected us to believe you would up and leave that small little nothing town after hiding there for months. I will say you did catch us off guard when your tracker began moving but…,” he turned to Tris’ father, “We figure out pretty quickly it was only a ploy.”

“Let him go. Jason too. They don’t have anything to do with this it’s me you want!” Tris begged. She’d rather they do whatever they wanted with her than harm the only people that genuinely seem to care about her. Jason struggled slightly at his chains, only to be stopped by a sharp tug at one around his neck.

“Stop!” Tris shouted, tears threatening to form. She wondered if her emotional manipulation would work. Trying, she sent out a wave of sympathetic feelings. It seemed to work with a few of the scientists, some faltering in their movements and glancing warily at the lead scientist. He, however, seemed unfazed.

“Your little emotion tactics are futile here, my dear,” he explained, pointing at a small implant on the side of his head, “With this, you can’t get me to feel what you want.”

“Please…,” Tris said softly, tears finally spilling over, “I don’t understand.”

“Allow me to explain. You didn’t really read all of your ‘father’s’ notes about you, did you? You see, you and several other children were genetically created to form an impenetrable army. An army of people who can’t be injured or killed in battle, with trigger words to activate them into a sort of kill mode, where one is in control of the others. You were, of course, the only one who survived. We hoped, for a while, that you would be able to be a kind of vessel, carrying future generations with the same abilities as your own. But unfortunately, the woman who had donated her own DNA had been infertile, and that trait had been passed on to you. So we plan to start from square one again, taking some of your own DNA to mix with the rest, whilst making sure that the next genetically altered being will be able to successfully procreate future generations.”

“This is…. This is insane! Do you fucking hear yourself?!” Tris yelled, “I’m as human as you are and you’re talking to me like I’m some kind of animal!”

“You’re not really a person, though, are you?” His voice was cold, uncaring. Tris felt her body grow cold from the fear. She noticed the other scientists were completely back to normal, no longer under her emotional control.

“Now then,” the lead scientist said, moving the table so Tris was lifted upward, “The next task I have planned before you’re untimely death, is to be rid of the only people who could stop this from happening. Now when I say these next words, your kill mode will be activated.”

Tris watched him with horror, afraid of what would happen.

“Subject 283T, Activate,” all at once Tris felt her body freeze.

Jason and her father watched helpless as her eyes glazed over, her pupils seeming to fade into the bright aquamarine. The straps holding her to the table were released and she fell to the ground. Shakily, she stood, finally standing straight.

Jason realized it was the first time he could see both of her eyes, as normally her right was obscured by her blue hair.

Her expression was what unnerved her father most. It was completely devoid of emotion, a neutral expression on her face. Her eyes seemed unfocused staring at nothing.

“Subject 283T, kill that scientist and that large man,” the lead scientist said with a sneer.

\--

Tris felt like her body was moving on its own. She fought to disobey the order, her body tense as she slowly walked toward her father and Jason.

Jason’s machete was lying on a nearby table, and she gently picked it up like it weighed nothing. Her orders were clear as she raised the machete in the air.

“Tris…,” her father said softly, causing her to halt, her head tilting slightly.

Her eyes turned to Jason, looking at the expression in his visible eye. He seemed… concerned. The emotion hit her and she froze, the machete still in the air.

“What the hell are you doing! I told you to kill them!” The lead scientist said.

Tris felt her heart pounding as she struggled. She swung the machete, turning and hitting the lead scientist directly in the face with the sharp end. His head was completely cut in half as he felt to the floor in a convulsing mess.

The other scientists ran to stop her, but her kill mode was still active, and she began slicing through them as if they were butter. Limbs flew, blood sprayed everywhere, on her, on her father and Jason, on the walls. The ordeal felt as though it would last forever.

As Tris continued her horrifying display of power, hacking and slashing at everyone in sight except for the two she was actually ordered to kill, her father managed to free himself and Jason.

“You’ve got to stop her! She won’t stop like this!” Her father yelled to Jason. He looked at him in confusion, why him?

“I’ve been keeping tabs on you, Voorhees. I know all about you. It’s why Tris was so interested in you in the first place. She was created to defeat those like you. The ones who kill people. But the people I worked with became greedy and wanted to use the program for super soldiers to fight in their ridiculous wars! So I made sure that her emotional manipulation powers went both ways! She feels empathy! If you have any in you, now is the time to do so. If I go near her, she’ll kill me. But you…. You seem to have a very powerful aversion to death!”

Jason thought the whole spiel was dumb, but knew there would be no other option. He walked after Tris, who had moved on to a different room.

He wasn’t sure what to do when he came face to face with her. Her cold, expressionless eyes bored into his. He wondered if she could even speak like this.

He cautiously held his hand up, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the phone she had given him just days prior and typed something on it.

Tris’ phone buzzed in her dress pocket. Robotically, she pulled the phone out and looked at it.

“<3”

She went rigid, the machete falling out of her hands with a loud clank. She looked up at Jason again, her eyes still the same, but curiosity was beginning to take hold.

“I like you,” was the next text, “I do not like anyone. But I like you.”

Her breathing became labored as the powerful wave of emotion came over her. Her hand gripped the phone as she began to shake. Her eyes began to turn back to their normal form, her pupils becoming more visible as tears welled up in her eyes.

“J…Jason I’m….,” she finally spoke, slumping to the ground with a defeated sigh.

It was over. She was herself again. As she stood, she realized she was covered in a ridiculous amount of gore.

“I’m going to be sick,” she muttered, looking mildly disgusted and irritated. She looked up at the larger man, who surprised her by wrapping her in a hug.

“Let’s go home,” she said softly.

\--

The ride home had been silent, Jason somehow barely fit into her small car. She’d been thankful to her father for finding clothes for her and helping get her cleaned up after her incident. She promised to call him later, when she and Jason returned home.

The silence was finally broken by Tris, “So… I guess my death count is a lot higher now, huh?”

Jason didn’t respond. He couldn’t talk, so she didn’t even know if he was awake. Tris glanced at him, then turned her eyes to the road, “I’m pretty sure this is very different from what you’re used to. You don’t really… ever leave Crystal Lake. Kinda hard to when you walk around with a hockey mask on all the time.”

He huffed, which confirmed to her that he was listening. She smiled a little, “I know why you wear it, but I’m pretty sure people wouldn’t be that horrified by a little disfigurement, you know? And if they are, that’s on them. Bunch of assholes, all of them.”

He finally turned to look at her, tilting his head. He noticed she was crying again. He reached out and touched her hand, signaling she should stop the car.

She did, rubbing her eyes, “I’m sorry I just… Jesus I killed so many people yesterday… I’m still kind of wrapping my head around it… And I’ve been thinking about… us… kind of…,” her voice was small.

Jason shifted in the small seat, looking at her. Tris sighed, “I’m ok. Listen, we’ll talk about the us thing in a couple hours, when we’re home and I can lie down in my own bed, ok?”

He nodded. Tris started the car and continued the drive, making sure no one saw her when they entered the town. The last thing that she needed was people she knew seeing her tote around a hockey mask wearing serial killer.

Finally home, Tris walked inside and flopped onto the couch, thoroughly exhausted, “I’m never leaving this town again. I’ve decided it’s too much effort.”

Jason pointed to the phone hanging on the wall, “I know.. I need to call my dad, hold on a sec,” Tris lifted herself off the couch and walked out of the room to talk to her dad.

Jason followed, but tried to keep his distance. The last thing she probably needed right now was someone hovering over her. He wondered if the fact that he had a tendency to kill people would make their relationship harder now that she herself had killed multiple people of her own.

“Yeah we’re home. Yeah no one saw us. It’s like 4 in the morning do you really think anyone other than possible teenagers would be out right now? Ok well you get sleep too… dad,” her voice was soft and unsure as she said that. Tris bid her father goodnight and turned to look at Jason.

“You tired?” She asked. He hesitated, then nodded. Tris held her hand out, which he grabbed gingerly, taking in the fact that her hand was so, so tiny compared to his own.

“We’re gonna go sleep in my bed now, ok? I don’t have work, so we’re sleeping late, you’re not killing anyone, I’m not killing anyone, we’re going to just… rest,” Tris said, pulling him along to her room.

Pushing him gently till he sat on the bed, she walked over and turned off the light, “You can take your mask off now. I can’t see a damn thing, I promise.”

He felt her hand on his arm as she tried to find her bed. She really couldn’t see. Once Tris had settled, she said, “You can lay down, you know. I’m kind of inviting you to sleep here.”

He still felt… unsure. But he decided it would be fine. Taking his mask off and placing it on the nightstand, he gingerly moved till he was lying beside her. Her bed was a lot bigger than he’d realized, fitting both of them with a little bit of space in between.

Tris didn’t seem to want that though. Her hand reached out and found his arm again, pulling herself up into a hug with him, “I don’t… want to be alone,” she said softly, “I’m afraid I might go into kill mode again.”

Cautiously, Jason put an arm around her, his other hand going to gently pet her hair. He had seen her kill several people twice her size, but she still seemed so small and fragile to him. He didn’t want to hurt her.

He stayed awake for a while, long after she’d fallen asleep. He wondered what it meant, being here like this. If maybe… she felt the way he did, or if this was simply a comfort situation.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one’s almost over! Also this chapter is solid fluff because I feel like they deserve some soft times

Jason was already up when Tris woke up. She wasn’t surprised, he didn’t want her to see his face, right? They’d been sharing a bed for a couple weeks now, at this point.

She sighed and stood, stretching as she looked around. She felt like she was going to need therapy after the shit she went through, but that could wait. She thought that every morning.

First thing in her routine that she did was call her father to make sure he was ok. He was fine, and told her that he had a conference with several other scientists about the situation a few weeks prior, and then later he was going to talk to someone about getting her an actual social security number.

After that, she walked out into the woods. It was starting to get colder, the air growing chilly and damp. Less teens snooping around meant more time with Jason.

Tris frowned. What were they now? He practically lived in her house, and they had several moments that could be considered intimate, usually hand holding or hugs that went on just a bit too long.

She wanted to be more than friends. She knew she wanted that at this point. And after the weird text based confession that had somehow stopped her rampage... things had been very different between them.

She had promised they would talk about it, but there never felt like enough time.

Tonight, however, there was plenty of time. It was snowing, and no one in their right mind would come wandering out in the forest. Jason even knew that, and had decided to hunker down with Tris for the evening.

She watched as he sat on the worn couch in her living room, her blinds drawn so no one could see inside. He looked tired. He always looked tired.

Coming over to sit by him, she said, “Remember that thing we were supposed to talk about?”

He cast a sideways glance at her. Yes, he seemed to say, and what of it?

“I think we should do that now. Talk about it, I mean.”

He turned to her, waiting patiently.

She began, “Ever since that horrible day at the lab I’ve been feeling very different toward you. It started when I kind of felt your emotions and realized you might have a crush on me.”

She saw his ears turn pink, clearly he seemed to have forgotten that ability of hers.

She continued, “You said you don’t like anyone, but that you like me. I’ve not been able to get that text out of my mind. I think... I might feel similar.”

He tilted his head. You do? He seemed to ask.

She nodded, reaching out and grabbing his hand, so much larger than her own, “It’s been nice... having you around. Especially with winter coming in and you being here more because there’s less dumb teens...”

His heart quickened. He almost forgot it was beating half the time, but Jason felt it right now.

Tris moved forward slightly, “I really like you, I think... and I have a request.”

He tilted his head the other way in confusion. She felt a little embarrassed and a little ashamed.

“C... can I see your face?”

He didn’t give the reaction she was expecting. Tris had expected anger or fear. 

But the look he gave her was wholeheartedly sad. He looked down at their intertwined hands and gently squeezed them.

There was the fear, Tris felt it radiate from him. He was afraid she would leave. That she would find him horrible to look at. She reached up and gently touched the part of his face not covered.

“I’m not gonna freak out and run away. I’m not some weak little thing scared by someone who looks a little different,” she assured him, a small smile on her face.

He shut his eyes and inhaled, letting go of her hands to reach up and remove his hockey mask.

Tris sat there, studying his now exposed face. The right half sagged slightly, and the eye was slightly lower than the other. It was clear he couldn’t see out of it. He definitely had been bullied for this, and it broke Tris’ heart.

She reached out and gently touched his face, tears in her eyes as she whispered, “If I had known you as a kid I would’ve fought every kid that looked at you wrong. You don’t look scary or ugly. I’m sorry you had to deal with so much as a kid.”

Jason was caught off guard, and Tris grinned as a blush spread across his face.

She moved a little closer, “Could I... try something else really quick?”

He looked confused, but she just smiled and said, “Close your eyes. Trust me ok??”

After hesitating, he closed his eyes. Her hands gripped his face a little more firm and he felt Tris gently kiss him.

He sat, rigid, afraid to move, afraid to hurt her. When she leaned away he opened his eyes and looked completely caught off guard.

“There now. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” She grinned.

He wanted her to do it again.

**Author's Note:**

> Main Author is RubiBlue, co author Monsbaddecisons is a editor


End file.
